


Bad Apple

by childishillusions



Category: Bleach
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-09
Updated: 2013-06-09
Packaged: 2017-12-14 10:52:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/836101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/childishillusions/pseuds/childishillusions
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The leaders find themselves horrified at what song is picked for a certain class of people. Surely it isn't as bad as what the singer is implying?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bad Apple

The interplanetary leaders were at a cultural event of a sort. Each of the major castes and classes were represented by one or two people, who would demonstrate what it was more or less like to be a member of their caste/class in an artistic manner. Several had gone up and had been correctly identified. There was a solitary figure on stage, their clothing dark, and a hood up, covering the person’s face. If the leaders guessed correctly, they would get to see who it was, if they were wrong, or took more than five minutes to identify the person, than they ‘lost’ that round, and the next representative would be up.

The person spoke softly, their masculine voice docile and having an almost… dull or broken quality to it. “I came up with this, as from what I’ve seen and experienced and spoken to others of my… Station, this song seems to fit very well.” Then the male began to sing;

_“Ever on and on I continue circling_

_With nothing but my hate in a carousel of agony_

_Till slowly I forget and my heart starts vanishing”_

That… Was not a very flattering opener, considering that they were the heads of the most luxurious and stunning societies in the galaxy, and to have one caste begin with that… What horrors did they suffer through? What did this caste do?

_“And suddenly I see that I can't break free--I'm Slipping through the cracks of a dark eternity_

_With nothing but my pain and the paralyzing agony_

_To tell me who I am, who I was_

_Uncertainty enveloping my mind_

_Till I can't break free, and”_

The musical background was lovely, a solid percussive background with a pulsing techno overlay. The male danced very gracefully, but sharp almost painful seeming movements, and he had grasped his head. The male was visibly shaking.

_“Maybe it's a dream; maybe nothing else is real_

_But it wouldn't mean a thing if I told you how I feel_

_So I'm tired of all the pain, of the misery inside_

_And I wish that I could live feeling nothing but the night”_

Aaaand this song did not seem to be getting any more cheerful. What caste could be suffering so badly? What could harm an entire subset of people so terribly, so badly and none of them could quite grasp who it was… The lowest mongrels had already gone, with a pair of fraternal twin girls from Tanagura (They were bound for medical and cooking school. Their skills in both areas was incredible, given the limited resources they had been born with).

_“You can tell me what to say; you can tell me where to go_

_But I doubt that I would care, and my heart would never know_

_If I make another move they'll be no more turning back_

_Because everything will change, and it all will fade to black”_

…Did that mean that this person was from a serving caste? But they ensured that they treated all of their servants, from chefs and footmen to bodyguards and information gatherers? None of this song made sense… And it was far too confusing. It was endlessly frustrating for the brilliant leaders to be so completely stumped by a song… Hopefully more of the song would be illuminating.

_“Will tomorrow ever come? Will I make it through the night?_

_Will there ever be a place for the broken in the light?_

_Am I hurting? Am I sad? Should I stay, or should I go?_

_I've forgotten how to tell. Did I ever even know?_

_Can I take another step? I've done everything I can_

_All the people that I see I will never understand”_

Now they were **really** stumped. Did this caste work with people? Or were they usually squirreled away, hidden from the public until they were direly needed? None of this made any sense at all to any of them, and the leaders were hoping by the endless, circling movements that the male’s hood would fall, and one of them might be able to identify him, and thus the terribly misused, or perceived by members of that class that they were being terribly taken advantage of.

_“If I find a way to change, if I step into the light_

_Then I'll never be the same, and it all will fade to white_

_Ever on and on I continue circling_

_With nothing but my hate in a carousel of agony_

_Till slowly I forget and my heart starts vanishing_

_And suddenly I see that I can't break free”_

… A couple of them began to suspect what caste this person was from. But they sincerely hoped that they were wrong… It couldn’t be… They couldn’t be **that** badly mistreated… Could they? Unless the way that they themselves felt that they were being used? No… No that couldn’t be true!

_“I'm Slipping through the cracks of a dark eternity_

_With nothing but my pain and the paralyzing agony_

_To tell me who I am, who I was_

_Uncertainty enveloping my mind_

_Till I can't break free, and_

_Maybe it's a dream; maybe nothing else is real”_

…Why was this caste so very, very tightly controlled? None that any of them could think of were this tightly controlled and managed, not the way that the singer was implying. The leaders shivered, almost feeling metaphorical chains on their wrists and ankles at the imagery that the unknown male was implying by his songs and his fluid but oddly restrained movements.

_“But it wouldn't mean a thing if I told you how I feel_

_So I'm tired of all the pain, of the misery inside_

_And I wish that I could live feeling nothing but the night_

_You can tell me what to say; you can tell me where to go_

_But I doubt that I would care, and my heart would never know_

_If I make another move they'll be no more turning back”_

What was this person from, where they were likely from a class where they had quite a bit of contact with other people, yet it was plain to them, all of them, that the caste was seen as something that was akin to furniture or something like that… Something to beat and harm and ignore at their leisure…

_“Because everything will change, and it all will fade to black_

_If I make another move, if I take another step_

_Then it all would fall apart. There'd be nothing of me left_

_If I'm crying in the wind, if I'm crying in the night_

_there ever be a way? Will my heart return to white?”_

The music changed, more urgent, a bit slower in it’s over all measures, but the techno was higher and pulsing louder. The male’s movements were similarly affected. They were nearing the end of the song, The leaders were certain. Some had come up with several different castes that might fit part of the song, but none except for one (Who’s heart may or may not have been shattered into pieces) had the slightest certain clue as to which class this person was from.

_“Can you tell me who you are? Can you tell me where I am?_

_I've forgotten how to see; I've forgotten if I can_

_If I opened up my eyes there'd be no more going back_

_'Cause I'd throw it all away, and it all would fade to black”_

The music faded, the lights dimmed, except for a spotlight that seemed to imprison the hooded male in its stark, harsh white glow. The male waited for the guesses to come in. The leaders had, collectively ten guesses, and had two minutes to talk over what they thought might be the caste before them. At precisely one hundred and twenty seconds, the Emperor of Rakunda guessed first “Cleaning staff?”

There was a single shake of the male’s head.

“Singer, as a majority of that class never make it.” Called another lord, blinking down, and confidence in his guess, plummeting by the nugatory motion of the male.

“Dancer, or an entertainer of a similar kind?” Guessed a third, sighs were heard around the room as there was another two shakes of the head.

They guessed several more castes, had less than ten seconds left, and had only one more guess left. Aizen cleared his throat and guessed softly “Pet.” This caused and instant uproar, as almost all of them had Pets, as did most of the upper court, and many of their family members.

Then they all froze as the person nodded once, slender hands reaching up and grabbing the hood of the garment the male was wearing to reveal one bright orange haired Pet. “You guessed correctly, master.” With that, the unusually colored Pet vanished, as if he had never been there in the first place.


End file.
